David Ignatius | A harsh reminder of a threat that's always with us

2:59 AM,
Apr. 18, 2013

Written by

David Ignatius, The Washington Post

WASHINGTON - "Nothing broken but my heart," was the subject line on an email from one of the Boston Marathon runners to his friends Monday night after the bombs had detonated near the finish line. And every American shared some of that trauma as a classic sporting ritual was turned into a scene of mayhem.

As the FBI and Boston police gathered evidence Tuesday, a preliminary picture emerged: The two bombs were rudimentary "improvised explosive devices," or IEDs, left on the ground and detonated by remote control from a cellphone or other electronic device. The bombs were packed with metal ...